Modern aircraft typically include passenger compartments, galley service, doorways, auxiliary areas, and crew rest areas. The galley areas often include service carts that have beverage and food items, galley service counters, waste carts, storage containers, and various other service related items, such as ovens, coffee pots, and beverage racks. The crew rest areas often include, berths, seated areas, lavatories, and stowage areas. The stated items and areas occupy significant portions of an aircraft.
An aft galley area typically includes a starboard doorway, a port doorway, and multiple galley service counters. An aft galley area often includes a pair of opposing service counters extending longitudinally in fore and aft directions and may also include a lateral counter coupled between the opposing counters and mounted against an aft most interior cabin wall of an aircraft. Galley carts are stored in single rows under the service counters and other service related items, such as those mentioned above, are stored in enclosures located above the counters.
Use of an opposing countertop arrangement can result in interference between crewmembers and galley carts. For example, crewmembers may be prevented from utilizing or removing a galley cart from beneath a starboard counter while a galley cart is removed from beneath a port side counter, due to the obstruction of the narrow area between the opposing counters by that port side cart.
Also, the utility of current aircraft doorway areas is not maximized. It is desirable within an aircraft to use a particular area for multiple purposes since all of the interior aircraft space is valuable. Unlike most other aircraft spaces, current doorway areas tend to be unobstructed, uncongested, left open, and not efficiently utilized. The doorway areas are designed for a single purpose and that is to provide space for the opening of aircraft doors and passage therethrough. Although the spaciousness of the doorway areas allows for the temporary storage of galley carts and provides areas for crewmembers and passengers to stretch, single purpose use thereof is considered inefficient and underutilized.
Thus, there exists a need for an improved galley, crewmember, and doorway area system that provides increased space efficiency and utility.